Rating: My bookshelf

Reading Level: Middle School

I couldn’t agree more with the cover that says, “Harry Potter meets Hunger Games.” The book is initially bleak, opening with horrible mistreatment (disposal) of “unwanted” children in a social caste system. But the rejected children are in for a surprise (and so are the readers!) when they discover a new life awaits them instead of death.

The book touches on questions of freedom, of power, of caste systems, and of identity when the “unwanteds” learn to love the very parts of themselves that led them to be outcast.

The reading level might be mid-late elementary, but I’d liken some of the violence and other aspects to later Harry Potter books. It’s pretty violent for an elementary kid. But for the right age level, I’d put it in my bookshelf.

  • War, death, questions of whether to kill others. Some kids choose to use lethal magic.
  • Parents who reject their children and try to forget about them in the social caste system that disposes of kids who make mistakes. One parent even tries to kill his son.
  • Priests as enemies, strict rules as oppressive
  • Name-calling (“dolt” is the most common)
  • Young romance (there is some love interest, there is a kiss on the cheek, and some drama)
  • Forgiveness, healing, and at one point the leader of the good guys suggests it maybe impossible to heal some wounds.

Before you get hooked on the series, you may wish to check out reviews of Book 2: Island of Silence, Book 3: Island of Fire, and Book 4: Island of Legends.

Discussion questions:

  • In this book, the high priest is clearly evil. How can we know when to trust religious leaders, and when they are abusing their power, or unworthy of their power in other ways?
  • Have you ever felt unwanted? What does God say to the “unwanteds” of society?
  • In this story the creatives who think differently, or who don’t conform are shunned and outcast. How can we avoid letting our society become this way? How do you respond to people who think differently than you?
  • Both Will and Samheed had been betrayed by Aaron. Their response to the betrayal was different. Why? How did their paths differ?